


Spirit Day

by IcyPheonix



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Nonbinary Character, Other, Soulshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 23:26:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12119544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: An AU rewrite of episode 42 ft: SoulshippingYubel has taken solid form for the day, and Judai is determined to take advantage of this situation, and perhaps finally reconcile and begin properly mending their relationship.





	Spirit Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a semi-discarded Au I had been working on where Judai, instead of sending Yubel off into space, kept the card instead. 
> 
> I figured if BMG could make herself solid for a day(or part of a day) then something like Yubel should no problem doing so. 
> 
> Also for GX Month, Day 17-prompt OTP
> 
> Using they/them pronouns for Yubel

“You’ve been awfully quiet Yubel, that’s not like you at all,” said Judai, turning his gaze towards the duel spirit.

“I’m just thinking, don’t worry about it,” replied Yubel, waving him off. “Why don’t you go help that small friend of yours with that costume duel he’s been going on about?”

Judai stared at Yubel in surprise; they actually wanted him to hang out with other people? That was certainly a change, usually Yubel wanted to keep Judai to themselves and away from everyone else in a misguided attempt to protect him. While Judai had since extracted a promise from the duel spirit that unless he was in actual danger, like the incident several months back with Titan, to leave people alone and let him have some freedom it didn’t change the fact that Yubel was fiercely protective of him.

“Ok, now I definitely know something’s up,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

To his surprise, Yubel laughed, a proper amused laugh. “I promise Judai, there I nothing to worry about.”

“If you say so.” In a fluid motion he bounced off the bed and was off towards the dorm room door.

 _‘Duel Monsters Spirit Day hmm?_ ’ mused Yubel, looking down at their hands. ‘ _Perhaps just his once I have strength enough for this._ ’

 

“Judai, Judai. It’s time to wake up dearest.” A hand touched Judai’s shoulder, slowly jostling him awake.

“Yubel? Issat you?” he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he sat up. As he moved he felt weight pressing down on the covers beside him, one far to big to be Pharaoh. As his vision began to clear and come into focus a figure slid into view, a figure that was sitting on the side of his bed, legs crossed at the knees and arms folded over their chest.

“Yubel?”

Yubel stood up, wings twitching slightly and arms falling to their sides. As Yubel moved so to did the weight, suddenly releasing the trapped sheets.

“Good, you’re finally awake. You’d best hurry; you have a big day after all with that festival you’ve been preparing for. I think your friends are already outside getting ready.”

Judai however didn’t hear Yubel; his mind still processes the fact that Yubel had been sitting, actually sitting. There was even still a clean imprint in the rumpled covers, which meant that they’d held weight. Tossing the sheets aside he leapt to his feet and went straight to the duel spirit. Before Yubel had a chance to say anything, Judai gabbed their hands in his.

“I-I can touch you!” he exclaimed after a moment, slowly registering the warmth and feel of Yubel’s hand against his. Then his face fell, “I didn’t die and become a spirit too did I? I’m to young for that!”

Yubel laughed, unable to contain themselves, “No dearest you’re very much alive, do not worry. I am the only one who has changed.”

He relaxed almost instantly. “Well that’s good to know, you had me worried for a moment. But that doesn’t explain why I can touch you, is this some kind of new power?”

“Something like that, but don’t worry about it, you need to get ready you have a big day after all.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, it’s Spirit Day! Oh man, this is going to awesome, we can do so much stuff, I can’t wait!”

“Aniki! You’ve been in bed long enough, it’s time to get uhhh, who is that?” The door to the dorm room flung open as Shou burst in to wake Judai. His gaze landed on Yubel and for a moment he could only stare with a mixture of shock and surprise. “Judai?”

“Eh-heh, funny story see–“

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”

“What‽” Now it was Judai’s turn to gape like a fish before turning beet red. “That’s not-what?”

Yubel stifled a laugh, watching as their young charge took off after his friend, who was now gleefully announcing to their dorm that Judai had a girlfriend.

‘ _I think today just got more interesting._ ’

 

It took Judai a while to convince everyone that Yubel was not in fact his girlfriend, though running though the dorm in his pyjamas didn’t help and he was petty sure that not everyone fully believed him.

He eventually settled on telling them that Yubel was just a friend in costume that he’d invited, which seemed to satisfy at least a few people.

 

“Well it’s not like I can tell them the truth,” he said, digging though the costume trunk in font of him. “Besides, everyone else is going to be in costume so you shouldn’t stand out. As long as they think you’re in one it won’t be a problem.”

“Do you really think they’ll believe you?” asked Yubel, leaning against the wall.

“Well I hope so.” He picked up a hat and tried it on with a ‘hmming’ noise. “They’d think I was crazy if I told them the truth, which I still don’t know.”

“I’ll explain it to you later. For now, you need to pick out a costume for that costumed duel.”

Judai sighed, “I know, but it’s just so hard, there’s so many choices. And I can’t pick with you watching me.”

“Shall I step outside?”

“It might help.”

“Do try to hurry.”

 

“You look like a Fusion spell gone awry,” deadpanned Yubel, looking down at Judai in his mismatched costume. “What on earth are you wearing?”

Nothing in his costume was from the same monster, from the hat belonging to Saggi, to the shield of Gearfried.

“I couldn’t decide so I just went with a bit of everything.”

Yubel just sighed and shook their head, “Judai dearest, never change.”

“Come on, I have a duel to win,” he grinned. “You’re going to cheer me on right?”

“Of course.”

“And after I win I’ll show you everything else there is to do. It’ll be a blast!” With a spring in his step he galloped off to the small arena, grinning like a mad fool.

‘ _At least he’s enjoying himself,_ ’ thought Yubel.

It felt strange, to hold a physical form after so long without, it also felt so right. If only it could be that way more often. Well, at least they could have one day together.

As Judai took his place at the end of the area, Yubel turned their attention to his opponent; someone dressed up in a very convincing Black Magician Girl costume. A prickle ran down Yubel’s spine as their gaze landed on the figure, this was no human, not with that power. But they weren’t a threat either.

‘ _Looks like I’m not the only one stopping by today,_ ’ thought Yubel. ‘ _This should prove to be interesting._ ’

 

“Did you see that Yubel? Wasn’t that duel just awesome?” Judai was still beaming after his win, practically bouncing as he walked.

“Of course I did,” replied Yubel with a smile. “You opponent was, intriguing.”

“Now we have the rest of the day to have fun! Come on, I know just where to start.” With a gin he grabbed Yubel’s hand and took off, dragging Yubel behind him.

Yubel smiled as they followed Judai, to see him happy like this was a nice change. All Yubel wanted was to keep Judai safe, and with the Seven Stars Assassins around they had to stay guarded more than usual, kicking their protective instincts into overdrive. Again.

The last time it had happened was when Judai was small and had resulted in Judai removing Yubel from his deck and almost giving up dueling altogether. It had been heartbreaking to endure and had taken a long while before Judai would even look at Yubel, let alone use them. Despite wanting to protect him from the evils of the world, Yubel had no desire to repeat that incident. It was a struggle to find the right balance of keeping him safe without smothering him and driving him away.

But for now, for this day anyways, Yubel felt they could relax a bit.

“Here Yubel, try this!” Judai held a bright red treat out to the duel spirit, a second one in his other hand. It looked like an apple on a stick, except it was as bright red as Judai’s jacket. “It’s a candied apple, you eat it,” he explained with a laugh when Yubel didn’t react, before taking a bite of his own.

Tentatively, Yubel took the apple from him and examined it closely. Despite having been with Judai for literal lifetimes, Yubel had never seen food like that before.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” asked Yubel after a moment.

“Hasn’t killed me yet, now come on, it doesn’t bite.”

Yubel sighed, ‘ _Only for you._ ’ With that, Yubel took a bite out of the apple. While it had been a long time since Yubel had eaten anything, they still new sweet, and this apple was exceptionally sweet. Their wings gave a twitch of surprise at the nearly overpowering sweetness.

“And you eat this?” asked Yubel, dumbfounded.

“Only sometimes, and since it’s on a stick we can eat and walk and our hands won’t get messy.”

“I see.”

With a satisfied grin, Judai dug into his own candied apple as he started walking, pausing only a moment to wait on Yubel.

Not wishing to be rude, Yubel ate the apple, despite the stomach churning sweetness. Judai had gone through the trouble of buying it for them after all. It was the thought that counted.

Despite Judai insisting that Yubel was not his girlfriend and that it was simply a very good costume, it did little to quell the curious stares and whispers the pair got as they walked through the festival grounds. It was strange to be stared at, especially by someone other than Judai.

Food and games, those seemed to be the two things Judai was most excited about showing Yubel, especially after he found a stall selling friend shrimp, something he insisted Yubel absolutely had to try. He may not have been that good at some of the games, but that didn’t stop him from trying or getting Yubel to try.

 

“Judai, where are we going? The festival is the other way,” said Yubel as Judai led them off by the hand, seemingly in the opposite direction.

“I want to get us some good seats for the show,” he replied. “Principal Samejima is putting on a fireworks show at the end of the night, and I know the best place to go and watch.”

“And that is?”

“Where I always go, the school roof. Best view around.”

Yubel smiled; there was no arguing with that logic, the school roof did have a great view of the island.

Fireworks, that was something that Yubel was familiar with, though it had been a long time since they’d seen them outside of a television.

“You have been in a very good mood today,” commented the spirit as they make their way to the roof. “What’s bothering you?”

“Who said anything’s wrong?” asked Judai, back stiffening.

“You did, with your behaviour. I know you Judai, I know how you get when you’re hiding something, when you’re bothered and don’t want anyone to know. You did it with your parents all the time.”

After a moment his shoulders sagged, the stiffness vanishing in an instant.

“As I thought,” mused Yubel, watching his reaction. “So what’s bothering you dearest?” asked Yubel, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I-” he cut himself short before turning to face Yubel, a smile plastered on his face, a very fake and forced one. “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could do this all the time? You know, you being solid like this?”

“Judai,” Yubel’s gaze softened at the look on his face. “I think you know that isn’t possible. It’s taking all my energy as it is, by morning I’ll be as I was, a spirit that only you can see and hear. And I cannot say when I’ll have enough power to do so again. And you’re evading the question.”

His smile faltered slightly under Yubel’s gaze, he’d never been able to pull one over on them. “Yeah I know, I just wish this could be, you know?”

Yubel sighed, “Judai please, tell me what’s wrong, don’t push me out again.”

“I’m sorry!” he blurted suddenly. “I’m sorry Yubel, I was horrible to you. I almost sent you way and I hurt you.”

“Oh Judai dearest," the spirit’s eyes softened and they placed their hands on his shoulders. “You did nothing wrong. I should be the one apologizing. I isolated you from the world thinking it was the best way to protect you without once seeing how much harm I was bringing you. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Judai bit his lip, feeling tears stinging his eyes. “I almost sent you away Yubel. I wanted to, I wanted to send you far away so you couldn’t hurt anyone. I even said that I hated you. I pushed you away and I…I don’t want to do that. I’m not trying to push you away, not again.” He took a deep breath to try and compose himself as Yubel moved a hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of his eye. “And tonight, getting to spend it with you, it made me realize how important you are to me. I know things have been rough but I…I want us to be friends again, for things to be better between us.”

“I would like that too,” said Yubel softly. “It would be nice.”

Judai cracked a smile, a genuine one this time, before moving to hug the spirit, wrapping his arms around Yubel.

“There’s still something else isn’t there?” asked Yubel.

Judai gave a hoarse laugh, “I can’t hide anything from you can I?”

“Of course not.”

He sighed, unwinding his arms from around Yubel as he went to sit, pulling Yubel with him. “I’m just worried, the Seven Stars, what if they take you from me? You saw what Camula did, what if there are more like that? I’m scared Yubel. I don’t want to lose you.”

Yubel pulled him close as they sat, stroking his hair with one hand. “You’ll never lose me Judai, that much I promise. I will always be by your side. And no assassins will change that.”

Judai smiled, leaning into the crook of Yubel’s shoulder as he hugged them again. “But seriously, how are you doing this? And why today?” he asked, looking up at Yubel. “You promised you’d tell me.”

Yubel laughed, “I did didn’t I? I suppose I can tell you now. Judai, how many dimensions do you think there are?”

Judai whined, “I didn’t know there was going to be a test. I didn’t even know there was more than one.”

“There are twelve, a number of which are ruled by what you call Duel Monsters. Today is the one time of year when the veil between those dimensions is thinnest, allowing us to cross into this world and maintain a physical form for a time, the stronger we are, the longer we can hold it. And unlike that Jinzo,” Yubel shuddered at the memory, “We don’t need to use anyone else’s energy.”

“So you can’t do this any other time?”

Yubel shook their head, “I am afraid not. It would be very difficult and quite taxing.”

A high pitched wailing split the air and Judai whipped around into to see a burst of red light as the first firework exploded.

“It’s starting!” He shifted around so he was sitting in Yubel’s lap, the duel spirit’s arms now wrapped around his waist to keep him close.

Yubel sighed, chin resting on Judai’s head as they watched the fireworks, the brilliant colours lighting up the dark sky.

It was a shame that it couldn’t last, but at least, for the time being they could both enjoy the experience.

“Hey, Yubel?”

“Hm?”

“Think we could visit those other dimensions sometime?”

“Maybe one day.”

Judai shifted his position, leaning back against Yubel’s chest and the duel spirit responded by extending their wings around him. Being able to hold him, Yubel was going to miss it when it was over.

The fireworks show lasted nearly an hour, during which time Judai had fallen asleep in Yubel’s arms, worn out from the day’s excitement.

“I suppose I should get you back, before you catch a cold out here,” said Yubel, carefully scooping Judai up in their arms. “And before I can no longer carry you.”

Judai shifted slightly, mumbling something as he slept, but didn’t wake. “Sleep well Judai,” said Yubel, gently placing a kiss on his forehead.

 

By the time Shou and Hayato returned to their dorm, having scoured the grounds to find Judai, he was fast asleep in his bed, Yubel’s card resting near his fingertips.


End file.
